The defense can't call county officials to testify in a preliminary hearing on conflict-of-interest charges against former county water board member Steve Collins, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.

It was the second time in less than a week that Judge Pamela Butler rejected the defense's bid to force testimony from county officials and others involved in the failed regional desalination project.

Defense attorney Mike Lawrence wants the county officials — including Supervisor Lou Calcagno, County Counsel Charles McKee and former county Water Resources Agency general manager Curtis Weeks — to testify as part of an effort to mount a so-called "alignment of interests" defense.

Lawrence argued that county officials urged Collins to work on behalf of the project to help resolve a "crisis," despite knowing he was working for a private firm, and that his efforts benefitted everyone involved, including the county.

Others called by the defense to testify include Marina Coast Water District general manager Jim Heitzman, RMC Water and Environment principal Lyndel Melton, Deputy County Counsel Irv Grant and Calcagno aide Henry Gowin.

Collins is facing two felony conflict of interest charges, among a slew of other charges, for collecting more than $160,000 from private firm RMC for his efforts on behalf of the desal proposal while he was a public official. RMC was working for Marina Coast and later earned the $25 million project management contract.

The $400 million project was backed by California American Water, Marina Coast and the county Water Resources Agency, but fell apart after revelations regarding Collins' dual role.

Collins was not present in court for Thursday's hearing.

Lawrence argued Thursday that legal precedent held Collins could not be singled out for prosecution on "strict liability" involving individual contracts if the entire transaction benefitted all those involved.

But prosecutor Stephanie Hulsey said Collins represented two parties, the county and Marina Coast, on the opposite side of the negotiating table over details of the desal project, and had access to the process that no one else had. Collins, she argued, was the only person who benefitted from the money he was paid by RMC.

In her ruling, Butler questioned whether the legal precedent cited by the defense was applicable to the case, and said the "alignment of interest" defense was not supported by the current state of the law. Besides, she said, she didn't believe the officials' testimony would support an affirmative defense.

Last week, Butler rejected the defense's bid to force the officials to testify in an attempt to prove its theory that Collins had been persuaded to work on behalf of the project and was assured that doing so was not illegal, and then was abandoned when the arrangement came to light.

Butler indicated at that hearing that she had concerns about the way the matter was handled, and about who knew what and when, but that was beyond the court's focus in the case.

Attorney Ted Cassman, who represents Calcagno, asked Butler on Thursday how her ruling affected the county's motion to quash defense subpoenas of county officials, including his client. Lawrence said he couldn't yet provide a reason for the court to require the officials to testify, but that he might be able to do so. Butler gave Lawrence a week.

Lawrence suggested earlier that if the court decided not to allow the officials to testify during the preliminary hearing, it was also not likely to do so during trial.

McKee lauded the court's ruling and said he believed it is unlikely Lawrence would be able to prove the need to compel county officials to testify. He said there is no evidence county officials knew about Collins' relationship with RMC before it became public, and pointed to a legal memo produced by the prosecution last month showing that others such as Heitzman, Melton and Marina Coast counsel Lloyd Lowrey did know early on.

He said the memo suggested there is no provision for aiding-and-abetting charges in conflict of interest law if the public official has no financial interest and is acting in a legislative capacity.

Collins' preliminary hearing, which started in mid-October, will start up again Nov. 13 and 15.